"I started working on the Greek myths during the second half of the 1980s, storing an old-style database in cardboard folders, and drawing charts with pencil and eraser. I was motivated by the creative and inspiring features of the myths, and therefore interested in acquiring a general view of them, that is, in determining how the tales, characters and places fit together. As we know, a modern reader cannot acquire a general view of the mythological body just by perusing the ancient poets and mythographers separately. This is of course a very basic insight. Homer, for example, represents approximately 8% of the mythological data. Naturally, we have manuals and dictionaries—from Roscher’s ten-volume Lexikon to Grimal’s smaller but excellent compilation—but most dictionaries, being intended for occasional consultation, rarely provide the reader with a general view of the myths. So when in 1990, having bought a computer, I started writing Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, I saw to cross-reference my work in ways which would make that general view more accessible to the reader. Among other things, I distributed the characters into categories, numbered those characters bearing identical names, and established a mythical chronology, showing what characters were living at the same time. During this period I received academic guidance from Jerker Blomqvist, Professor of Greek language and literature (ret.) at the Department of Classics, Lund University, Sweden. Later, Prof. Blomqvist also put me in touch with the publisher, Prof. Paul Åström. The book appeared in 1993, published by Paul Åströms förlag/Astrom Editions with the support of the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. Later on, in 1997, I started developing the Greek Mythology Link, a web site which represents an expansion of my previous work." (Carlos Parada, interview in the magazine Διιπετές, October 2009).

"An invaluable aid in achieving a broader view of interrelationships. The volume shows several deft touches of an experienced mythologist providing useful information."

IT IS A HAPPY COINCIDENCE when two competent books that complement each other so well appear so nearly simultaneously. The books of Parada and Gantz are such an occasion.
Anyone who works regularly with Greek mythology will have compiled a scattering of sources on genealogical matters. Carlos Parada provides a very welcome reference tool to supplant such a desultory method. His Genealogical Guide includes both an index, with thorough citations for each entry, and genealogical tables, an invaluable aid in achieving a broader view of interrelationships. The sources indexed include both Greek and Latin authors, the preponderance being Greek. All the usual and several less usual sources are included, and a text edition is cited for each, the ubiquitous Loeb texts predominating. A deft touch is the inclusion of a chronological table of authors. In fact, the volume shows several such "touches" of an experienced mythologist providing useful ancillary information.
The index itself appears somewhat forbidding and obscure at first sight, replete with cryptic abbreviations and symbols. A short time spent in a thorough reading of the brief guide along with a little practice soon ameliorates the initial impression. The seemingly cryptic quality of the entries is an inevitable result of providing so much information in so little space, and the result far outweighs the disadvantage. By means of this code, the author provides a wide variety of information in an exceedingly compact and direct form, to do with, for example, birth, parents, mates, children, and death, with cross references to other entries, in addition to citations. Persons with the same name receive distinct entries, further clarified by Arabic numeral.
From the genealogical index the author has extracted several compilations of sublists. Those such as "Divinities," "Places and Peoples," and "Greek and Latin Correspondences," are conventional categories. Others such as "Personifications," "Constellations and Stars," and "Objects" are less so, yet prove to be equally useful.
The genealogical tables are, once again, visually forbidding. They bear the clear indications of computer generation and give more the appearance of electrical diagrams or organizational flow-charts. Several are quite cramped and, despite the author's explanatory ideograms and directional arrows, present an impediment to immediate access. Yet it is difficult to see how the author could well have avoided this density in the charts, given the need to present so large an amount of information on the surface of a single or double page. In subject, most of the tables are organized on geographical principles, although there are other standard headings such as "Achaean Leaders," "Myths of Creation," and "Heraclides." Overall, it is a great benefit to the scholar to have these various tables all brought together into one volume.
Where Parada provides the framework of study, Timothy Gantz fleshes it out in Early Greek Myth [...]

"An exceptional work in its kind. Carlos Parada has given us an unique research tool and filled the void that had been noticeable until today."

An exceptional work in its kind. The heroes, semigods and gods of Greek mythology appear in a confused mess, but thanks to computer technique and the writer’s work are now in order!
The reader finds in the pages of this book information on the genealogy of the mythological characters (in alphabetical order), according to the different versions existing in antiquity. In this research the original sources have been used.
Eighteen charts and two maps simplify the use while the codification summarizes the various informations, making the use of this volume more comfortable. Carlos Parada has given us an unique research tool and filled the void that had been noticeable until today.
This volume (CVII) is part of the series “Studies in Mediterranean Archeology” created by Professor Paul Astrom, Lund University.
Anna Lambraki

"The most notable book about Greek mythology which I have ever seen. A real masterpiece in its kind which will live long."

This is the most remarkable book on Greek mythology I have ever stumbled upon. Its main section contains an alphabetical catalogue of Greek mythological characters (about 6,400!) with short presentations and data about parents, husbands/wives, children, and cause of deathsources included. The catalogue suggests completeness! Here there are also lists of Argonauts, Centaurs, Nymphs, all the children of Zeus, and a number of other groups. In in the second-longest chapter, abour 1200 places and peoples are described. The maps showing the Achaeans and Trojans and their “returns” after the Trojan War are fascinating as also are the big format charts showing the Achaean leaders, as well as the royal houses which also include genealogical information. There is also an extraordinary “contemporary” table (with years), running from Chaos and Gaia to Tarquinius Superbus. This is a veritable masterpiece in its kind which will live a long life. The volume is in English but that should not discourage anyone interested in classic literature and the ancient myths from seriously searching data or from pleasant deep-sea divings.

This book is a dictionary taking a genealogical approach to Greek Mythology. This means, that it is concerned with how the various Gods, creatures and men are related to each other. This is structured and explained through a large and detailed dictionary along with numerous visual family trees. Each entry in the dictionary contains the name (mostly in both its English and Greek form), a small description, the family ties (parents, men/wife(s), children), as well as stating places in the body of classical literature where the person appears. The book is very valuable both for quick reference and for more lengthy studies of family ties.
It is perhaps not the first book you should buy about Greek Mythology, since it does not hold in length retellings of the Greek myths. It is, however, definitely the book you should buy as soon as you are ready for a both general and detailed overview of the characters and the literature of Greek Mythology.

Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology

Description

The book is meant to be a supportive guide and catalogue by making available to the reader of the Greek myths the genealogical data in their various versions.
The genealogical material, comprising 6380 entries, has been organised in a coded way which should make retrieval easier than explanatory prose. Each piece of information is connected to its particular source by the use of the same codes.
Almost half of the entries have been rearranged in groups (about 130) which provide comprehensive lists and allow cross-references (groups are, for example, ARGONAUTS, AMAZONS, BESTIARY, METAMORPHOSES, NYMPHS, SUITORS OF HELEN, etc.). Almost every mythological character mentioned in the sources has an individual entry.
Namesakes are numbered consistently through the whole book to make identification easier.
Anecdotes are referred to with some detail, but the emphasis has been put on relationships and connections.
All the information is taken from the original sources (included).
The names of the characters are also written in their original Greek script.
The chapter 'Peoples & Places' comprises more than 1100 entries.
Most of the 18 tables provide information concerning both genealogy and throne succession except the following: the table 'Theogony' is a graphical representation of the genealogical information contained in Hesiod's 'Theogony'. The table 'Contemporaries' is an attempt at placing individuals and events in time, and 'Myths of Creation' compares different cosmogonies. 'Kingdoms and Ancestors' combines some aspects of throne succession, genealogy and chronology, and 'Achaean Leaders' shows the family links among these.
The two maps are related to the Trojan War.

The relevance of genealogy in the Greek myths may be seen from at least two angles: it often suggests the individual fate of the characters, and at the same time it builds a consistent network that tends both to explain and keep together the mythological body.
This book is meant to be a supportive guide and catalogue by making available to the reader of the Greek myths the genealogical data, in their various versions, without distracting his attention by leading him through a text containing much of the material he is already reading elsewhere.
The genealogical material, concerning more than 6000 mythological characters, has been organised in a coded way which should make retrieval easier than explanatory prose. It will be also noted that each piece of information is connected to its particular source by the use of the same codes.
Almost half of the entries have been rearranged in groups which provide comprehensive lists and allow cross-reference, but also might help the reader to achieve a general view of the mythological material.
Almost every mythological character mentioned in the sources which support this book has an individual entry. I have also worked out a numbering of namesakes, consistent through the whole book, to make identification easier.
All information is taken from and refers to the original sources. This applies even to Descriptions and Death accounts, which often are presented as the authors expressed them. Even though sometimes I have referred to the anecdotes in some detail, the emphasis has been put on relationships and connections.
Most tables provide information concerning both genealogy and throne succession except the following: the table "Theogony" is a graphical representation of the genealogical information contained in Hesiod's Theogony. The table "Contemporaries" is an attempt to place individuals and events in time, and the table "Myths of Creation" compares different cosmogonies. "Kingdoms and Ancestors" combines some aspects of throne succession, genealogy and chronology, and "Achaean Leaders" shows the family links among these.
The collaboration of Professor Jerker Blomqvist, who also encouraged me at an early stage of this work, has made it possible to include in this Guide the names of the characters in their original Greek script. I have received technical assistance from Vassilios Sabatakakis, teacher in Modern Greek at the Department of Classical Studies, University of Lund, and from Aster Börjesson and Kjell Eriksson from the Department of Sociology of Law. The criticism and assistance of my wife, Mai Parada, has been of paramount importance for this work. I thank them all for their cooperation.

Carlos Parada
Lund, 1992

Note about the Greek names

All Greek names are lemmatized in their traditional English (Latinized) form but, for the benefit of those familiar with the language, the original name has normally been added in Greek script. When two or more orthographic variants of a Greek name occur in the ancient texts, only one of them appears here; readers with knowledge of Greek will presumably be able to identify aberrant spellings without much difficulty. Dialect forms have been used of those names that are unusual and are attested only in dialect texts; in other cases a standardized Greek form has been given. Full consistency has not been aimed at in these matters.

Jerker Blomqvist
Professor of Greek Language and Literature
University of Lund